City, unions share interests

Common ground on collective bargaining requires common goals

Unions and employers often see issues from opposite points of view, but in the case of the city and its employees, we believe there are enough shared interests that negotiations on new collective bargaining rules should be able to provide a positive vision for everyone involved.

Springfield City Council members are charged with establishing rules that not only comply with a 2012 Missouri Supreme Court ruling and existing state laws, but the elected officials must also find a way to protect the city, taxpayers and the rights of the people who are on the city's payroll.

That has proved to be a difficult job.

Last November, the state high court found that the existing rules regarding collective bargaining did not meet constitutional muster. Instead of simply listening to requests from unions and other employee groups, then doing whatever the City Council decided, the court said that cities must negotiate "in good faith" about raises or changes in working conditions.

We call on the city and the council to do just that, act in good faith to do the right thing by everyone involved.

So far, the city has taken important steps toward finding a way to do that. Changes have been made to the city's proposal as employee groups have pointed out conflicts and issues. Sometimes those changes were in everyone's best interest. For example, the Springfield Police Officers Association pointed out that a provision calling for any arbitration to consider the entire agreement instead of just the points in contention would have been costly for both the city and the employee group. The city changed the wording in the proposal.

Other issues between the city and the SPOA have not been as easily resolved. Of special concern to the union is a change in voting procedures.

An issue the unions and the News-Leader have had is the city's lack of transparency when discussing provisions in the ordinance.

We applaud the city's efforts to find a solution that respects the city's police, firefighters and other public employees. We also remind city officials and City Council members that they are working for the public. What they do and how they do it is part of the public's concern and should be done in public.

Those struggles, however, reflect some of the underlying issues in collective bargaining. No one wants to show their hand until they have won the game. But, in this case, everyone should have the same goal.

We encourage both sides to keep their eyes on the end game - making Springfield a safe, secure and successful city.

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City, unions share interests

Unions and employers often see issues from opposite points of view, but in the case of the city and its employees, we believe there are enough shared interests that negotiations on new collective